


Impressions

by LazyWriterGirl



Series: In Any Scenario - Korrasami Month 2016 [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Eighteenth Birthdays Are Important, F/F, Fluff, Hiroshi Isn't An Asshole, Korra Isn't the Avatar, Korrasami Month 2016, Prompt: Soulmates, Raava is The Celestial Matchmaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 03:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8517280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyWriterGirl/pseuds/LazyWriterGirl
Summary: “Nice to meet you too, Asami,” says the girl with warm brown skin. When she looks up Asami catches sight of the most stunning, expressive, electric blue eyes and the pieces click into place. She hears herself gasp, feels her mouth forming a soft “o”.Asami thinks that this must be what it feels like to forget how to breathe.Oh. Oh.Korrasami Soulmates AU





	

There is precisely one tradition that all cultures of the world uphold.

On the eve of a child’s eighteenth year, they are brought to a secluded place and asked to meditate, at which time the Great Spirit herself comes down from on high to greet them. She congratulates them for their successes, and asks that they not be disheartened by their failures. She praises the acts of good that they have done, and asks that they seek absolution for those acts of evil to which they may have succumbed. She gives them her blessing for a life well-lived, and then, when the night reaches its middling hour and signifies the beginning of a new day, Raava gives each new adult a gift. She gives them the impression of their soulmate’s very essence, and the name of the place where their soulmate was born.

And when she has finished, the Great Spirit ascends to the heavens, and the newly-blessed adult falls asleep until the morning comes to properly greet them.

Some aspects of Raava’s visit are hidden from the individual’s mind; so busy are the lives of men and women, after all, and yet, with wakefulness comes the knowledge of one’s soulmate. And so begins a mission handed down to all children of the world, no matter where they are or what their circumstances; a mission to find the person to whom they have been bound by the Great Spirit herself.

 

 

 

In Republic City, there is a girl, a nonbender born into a prestigious family, and she is nearing her eighteenth year with every passing second. As she does with all the others, Raava comes to her. The child is brilliant and beautiful, enduring in the face of permanent and emotionally draining loss. When it comes time for the Great Spirit to show the child the essence of her soulmate, Raava cannot help but give just a little more to Asami Sato than she would normally give.

The impression she gives of Asami’s soulmate is one awash in light and bathed in blues of every shade. There are flashes of confident femininity, of strength, of a loyalty to family, and Raava shows this all to Asami, hoping that she will take comfort in the knowledge that her soulmate will not leave her behind once they are united. The Great Spirit digs deeper, fuelling the impression with the passion for life and the capacity for learning and growth that marks Asami’s soulmate as a person who will one day become greater than they are.

But she does not stop there. She gives more to the young woman who kneels alone in the grove waiting for Raava’s will to be done than she has ever given to any human, because Asami is brave and Asami is determined, but she is afraid as well; afraid of the future. Raava gives Asami the impression of warmth—of great and all-encompassing love—of good humour and cheer and a slightly brash personality. She gives Asami these things and imparts an image of the South Pole—of the palace, specifically—and then she has done altogether too much.

With one final blessing, the Great Spirit departs, and the sound of Asami’s heart singing in her chest is one of the most beautiful things in the world.

 

On the morning of Asami Sato’s eighteenth birthday she wakes to comfortable loneliness. The grove in which she has spent the night is her family’s private property, having been built by her father upon her birth in preparation for this day. Asami closes her eyes and breathes; it is calm here. Remnants of the Great Spirit’s tranquil aura flood the place, and when she opens her eyes again she can almost see the whites and blues that make up Raava’s being.

Blue.

She remembers shades of blues running the gamut from depths-of-the-ocean dark to paler-than-the-sunlit-sky bright, but mostly she remembers a striking, electric blue; the kind of blue that would make for the most disarming pair of eyes.

Her soulmate’s eyes are gorgeous.

Asami stretches her legs and arms out again, rolling the sleep from her bones. She remembers an image of strength, and the hints of some brash, yet endearing, stubbornness. She remembers the South Pole, and the feeling that her soulmate is still there, in the land of her upbringing.

Asami knows instinctively that her soulmate is a “her”, and she thanks Raava for her giving her so much to work with; not all people can boast of such luck as hers.

Compiling everything she knows about her soulmate in her head as neatly as she can, Asami runs into her father’s house, surprising the staff with her energy. She appears to fly up the stairs, nearly bumping into her father as he heads into his office, and the fond smile on his face is the last thing that she sees before she’s alone in her room searching for a piece of paper. After all, there are no rules against writing down every last thing that she can remember, and Asami doesn’t ever want to forget what she has seen.

It’s going to be difficult enough, trying to find a soulmate who lives in the South Pole while she’s got so many things to do right here in Republic City.

 

 

 

Only a few short months later, that problem resolves itself as Asami Sato boards a Future Industries ship bound for the home of the Southern Water tribe. She thanks Raava that her father has decided to trust her with overseeing Future Industries’ expansion.

Her heart leaps into her throat in agreement, and it is a beautiful feeling.

 

***

 

As only child of the Southern Water Tribe’s Chieftain, Korra feels that she’s pretty much set down the pathway of her life. She’ll become a mighty warrior, a true daughter of the South, and when her father steps down perhaps she’ll step up and become the leader of her people. She could do it. She’s brave and strong and courageous, and only wants what’s best for the community—the best family anybody could ask for.

That’s why when she sees the large, impressive ship with the Future Industries logo on it, she is at once excited and wary.

On the one hand, she’s not stupid—she knows that a factory will be just what her people need. She does listen, even though everybody always gets exasperated with her and claims that she doesn’t. Korra knows that Future Industries is a big deal throughout the world in the same way that the radio—ironically one of the only major breakthroughs of the last two or three decades not to come from Future Industries—is a big deal. She’d heard her father’s talks on the phone they kept at the palace for emergencies and international calls. A new factory is going to be going up somewhere in the tundra—close enough to the main city to be convenient for workers, but far enough that nobody will be too bothered by the noise.

Supposedly.

On the other hand, a small part of Korra, a very small part, is a little worried. The last thing that the community needs is a bunch of snooty old guys in poorly-padded suits walking around like they’re better than the entire population of the South Pole combined. She knows what some big city tourists are like. And even though whoever’s coming in from Future Industries will probably be here for much longer than the average tourist, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their attitude will be any good.

Her father brings her with him when he goes to meet the Future Industries representative.

She has to admit, she’s a little surprised to see a girl about her age—maybe a year older—come off the ship first, followed closely by a round-bellied man with spectacles and a bad mustache. Hiroshi Sato…so that must be…

“Korra,” says her father in his deep, familiar voice, “This is Hiroshi Sato and his daughter, Asami. Asami will be overseeing the Future Industries factory as well as the construction of an office in the downtown core.”

Downtown core? She only smiles, nodding her head a little too eagerly; everything that she is says that she should be outside right now. She should be roaming the tundra with Naga, or training with her father’s soldiers…not here. Not standing in front of this _impossibly_ pretty rich girl.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, Korra,” rich gi—Asami—and Korra takes the hand that’s offered to her. It’s warm, and surprisingly not as soft as she’d been expecting. The tell-tale scratch of callused skin feels comforting against her palms for some reason.

“Nice to meet you too, Asami,” she says back. The other girl looks at her seriously for a second before her mouth forms a small “o” as she gasps quietly. Strange. Korra’s father’s eyes widen into shock at her politeness, and she herself is surprised by the sincerity in her tone. Korra isn’t normally a nice girl. Especially not to (possibly) stupid, prissy rich girls.

 

***

 

“Nice to meet you too, Asami,” says the girl with warm brown skin. When she looks up Asami catches sight of the most stunning, expressive, electric blue eyes and the pieces click into place. She hears herself gasp, feels her mouth forming a soft “o”.

Asami thinks that this must be what it feels like to forget how to breathe.

Oh. _Oh_.

 

***

 

 

 

Asami is nice, she thinks, and not stupid _at all_. Actually, and Korra is so impressed she can’t help but say it out loud one day as she watches Asami single-handedly take apart the (ancient) engine of Korra’s (mostly useless) snowmobile.

“Well thanks,” says Asami, and her voice has the same soft tone to it that it’s always had. Korra can’t help but smile when she hears it. Weird.

“No, I’m serious,” she says, not sure why she’s stressing the point so much. Asami’s already taken the compliment. “You’re amazing.”

“Thank you, Korra,” Asami says again. Korra doesn’t know when it got so hot in the garage, but she’s almost uncomfortable.

Asami’s eyes flicker over to her for a brief moment when she lifts her parka over her head, and for some reason Korra feels her skin crawl with even worse heat.

 

***

 

Korra is adorable. Adorable and even more amazing than Asami had thought—a little more stubborn too, but that’s fine. Korra will be hers one day. It’s a good thing that all the years she’s spent trailing behind the fellas in the R&D department have taught her how to be patient.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

On the morning of her eighteenth birthday Korra is awoken by Naga’s polar bear-dog breath on her face. The rest of the gigantic, slobbering mess of an animal she loves is curled around her body, and Korra is thankful. The last time she’d fallen asleep out in the courtyard, she’d had the most _awful_ windburn all over for weeks. As it is, the tip of her nose is a little numb, but that’s about it.

“Raava was amazing, Naga,” she whispers, stroking her hand down Naga’s fur. The polar bear-dog whines—most likely she’s hungry—but she nuzzles into Korra’s hand and the girl closes her eyes.

She can feel the impression of her soulmate if she searches for it hard enough, and so Korra clenches her eyes shut until she sees red where the sunlight flashes against her eyelids.

Red.

She remembers shades of red floating in and out of view, deep red, bright red, red that puts rubies to shame. She remembers red fading into deep mahogany, into rich brown and richer black. Most of all, she remembers a striking apple green—it’s almost inhuman, impossibly stunning. A colour like that would make the most perfect eyes.

Her soulmate’s eyes are _gorgeous_.

Korra unscrews her eyes and throws pulls herself up into a seated position, pushing back up against Naga’s warmth until she’s perfectly comfortable. She remembers a quiet strength behind an impressive intelligence. She remembers the determination to fight on through unimaginable pain, the will to push past all boundaries in place in the pursuit of recognition well-deserved. She remembers the rough sophistication of Republic City, and the feeling that her soulmate is much, much closer than that.

She opens her eyes and thinks…oh. _Oh._

Her mother’s voice carries through the air and smacks into her, grabbing her attention. “Korra! Sweetie, are you awake?”

“Yeah Mom, I am…why?” What is it that it couldn’t wait until she got back inside.

“You have a visitor!”

Who could… _please._ She wonders if it’s really going to be this easy, because if this visitor is who she thinks it is, Raava must have them both in her…whatever the Great Spirit equates to a human heart.

 

When Korra sees Asami Sato standing in the doorway with a single, definitely imported red rose in her hand she smiles the widest she’s ever done. Everybody in the room can feel it, she knows, and when she leaps into Asami’s waiting arms she laughs.

All of the looks, all of the little jokes, all of the soft smiles…they all make sense now.

 

***

 

Oh, _oh_ , Asami’s heart practically sings.

**Author's Note:**

> I intend to come back and add to this eventually, but for now I hope this is alright.  
> Wherever you are, I hope that you stay safe, stay strong, and stay beautiful.


End file.
